A Christmas Surprise Like No Other

Christmas has a tradition of surprise gifts.  The puppy under the Christmas tree is one of the famous stories that I remember - here's the sense of the intention: "There is a special magic in the air as everyone rushes around trying to find the best Christmas gifts to surprise their loved ones with. One of my favorite parts of the season is baking treats and making cards to show our friends how special they are to us. We also love receiving Christmas surprises and treats as they show up at our doorstep from friends and neighbours!" There's a thud on the internet - there are no postings on 'christmas surprise gifts'. What was I thinking of?  The search is 'weirdest Christmas gifts'.  Surprises aren't good enough anymore.  So here they are from huffingtonpost.ca for 2017.  There are far too many to list here so it is definitely worth a visit. A Christmas tree costume - a short version for easy maneuvering A pillow hat - yes it is a pillow on the back of a hat - plain white A Rudolph mankini - yes that's a Red-nosed reindeer bikini that fits over the shoulders  - with the nose you know where Upside-down Christmas Tree - it's on a stand so no problem having to hang it from the ceiling - hark back to the Middle Ages Inflatable humping reindeer - what to say - would you put that out front? And then when the town representatives come around to judge your front lights for the contest... Weed earrings - a baggy hanging from pierced ears, so you can make some brownies Toilet Donald - well that would be Catalonian wouldn't it - the Pooping President in a Manger - give him the traditional red cap to finish it off Zappa costume and box set - save this one for Halloween Trump toaster and impeach jam - the Trump toaster burns the face of The Donald on one side of the bread with "You're Fired!" on the other.  The website sells "Impeach Jam". Praying Mantis Angel - well looks alien and about to explode everything Here's our Christmas Greeting - this is one of Floyd Elzinga's wall sculptures.

The Five Minute Best Practice

Best practices are an important area of organization operation.  There can be dozens, hundreds and thousands of employees doing the similar things in different ways resulting in lesser and greater degrees of success in terms of efficiency, effectiveness and quality.  The idea of best practices is to use/do what is best to improvements.  Most often best practices can be small changes that make a big difference. What about best practices at the individual human level?  We've had a few decades of performance improvement and quality management in the organization.  Let's explore how this wealth of knowledge has been applied to living our lives. Here is the start of looking into this topic: The First Five Minutes:  Best Practices Approach to Motor Vehicle Collisions. This site -fireengineering.com is advice for what to do when you are involved in or arrive at a collision.  Small Changes in Teaching:  The Last 5 Minutes of Class. This article comes from The Chronicle of Higher Education - chronicle.com - the author proposes two questions to students:  What was the most important thing you learned today?  and What question still remains in your mind? James M. Lang has a number of practices like this - the First 5 minutes of class, small changes in teaching, etc. Five Good Minutes:  100 Morning Practices to Help You Stay Calm and Focused All Day Long (The Five Good Minutes Series). This is a book available on Amazon and its summary says that with five minutes of mindfulness, relaxation, or imagery techniques during their morning routes, readers can set their intentions and greet the day feeling calm, centred and energized.  This is part of a series titled Five Good Minutes. I think they have a similar practice for the end of the day. The Five Minute Journal - Simplest most effective way to be happier...from self-improvement theory to action.  There's an app for this one at intelligentchange.com  Today we're looking at a Grimsby Painted Lady garden with Floyd Elzinga's pine cone as the sculptural focal point.  This a calm, meditative garden, perhaps a best practice for gardeners.

Fire in the Night

We are very lucky here in Niagara.  This is where well-renowned metal sculpture artist Floyd Elzinga has his home and studio. Last night was Floyd Elzgina's Night Open House.  This was a  popular event with many people arriving with us.  I came for the pine cone fire.  He has a fire pit with one of his pine cone sculptures and the flames sprout out of the metal sculpture.  It was all great fun! You can check out Floyd's work and upcoming events at his website: http://www.floydelzinga.com

The Artist's Vision

Floyd Elzinga's Vision Floyd Elzinga is a sculptor in metal. He lives in Beamsville with his studio on Mountain Street. The natural world is his subject. Here's his Artist Statement from his website  http://www.floydelzinga.com "Rotten stumps, broken branches, invasive species, ravaged trees as well as polar opposites and dysfunctional objects; these are the things that excite Floyd Elzinga. He has made a career out of highlighting and glorifying these through three dimensional sculpture, relief work and environmental installations for over 15 years. Current themes in his work focus on broken landscapes, portraits of trees and the aggressive nature of seeds." I asked Floyd's permission to photograph his work and to be able to publish my images. He is very receptive to this as his work is three dimensional sculpture, so the original work cannot be replaced or reproduced.  This allows me to to pursue my interest in pattern, line, texture and saturated colour with extraordinary subject matter - subjects of the artist's eye that incorporate the natural world and urban materials.